Professional Documents
Culture Documents
narrate our experience on point No.2 above i.e. obtaining of Bhutan Entry Permit from
the Bhutan Kolkata Consulate. We had visited the Consulate office and had submitted
our applications for Permit. Incidentally, it may be mentioned here that from Kolkata,
one can get Permit for Thimphu and Paro only.
In past it has been reported in Inidamike that
1. Bhutan Entry Permit is now available from Kolkata itself (It is correct)
2. Permit Application Form is downloadable from web (I could not get despite several
efforts)
3. It is not mandatory for all the visitors to be present at the Consulate while applying
for the Permit. (True, one can sign on behalf of other members of the team)
The Consulate office is located on Mall Road, near to Dum Dum Nager Bazar. Bus Stop
is "Clive House", just 2 stops after Nager Bazar towards Airport. It is adjacent to Christ
Church School. We carried original Voter ID Card, Photocopies and 1 copy of Passport
sized Photographs of the each traveler along with us. When we reached there, we
found the main gate is closed and besides the main door there is an embedded Sign
Board which reads and looks like this. Please see at the bottom of this post.
On the right hand side of the above Sign Board, there is a small Gate, which looked
like a closed door, but there is a calling bell switch, which, however, did not work!
Anyhow, when we pushed the small door a bit, it opened up and a Security Guard
emerged. He gave us Permit Forms and asked us to fill up. He offered us seat in the
adjacent Room, which looks like Visitors Room. The main building is away and it
seems that visitors are NOT allowed to go inside the Office. The so-called Visitors
Room is very Spartan in look with school-like Table and Bench. A Notice displayed
over there on the wall gives a few tips (advisory type) meant for travelers viz.
1. Pre-requisite documents for Permit (We discussed this earlier);
2. Not to carry 500 or 1000 INR Notes to Bhutan;
3. Hire only Bhutan-registered Vehicles etc. etc.
While filling up the forms, an Officer from the Main Office came to us and exchanged
a few pleasantries and also informed us that since our journey begins on 2nd
November, the Permit will be made available on 25th October only. We reckoned we
had no choice on this and naturally we nodded in acceptance.
As I had told earlier, I could not get the Entry Permit Application Form for Indian
citizens from the web contrary to the claim made by many. What I did was I got Visa
Application Form downloaded instead from the Web, got it photocopied and filled in
before we reach Consulate Office assuming that this Form might be similar in nature
and would be acceptable to the authority. But, it is not to be. Our earlier filled-in
forms were scrapped and we had to fill in new form afresh provided by the Consulate
Office (Read Security Guard). Since I have gone through this ordeal I thought that if I
can submit the Permit Application Form in this thread itself, it would come handy for
future travelers. I reckon downloaded Form would be accepted. So, here goes the
Form: Please see at the bottom.
We travelled far way to Bhutan, a land locked country at eastern end of the Himalayas and sharing
border with our country India.
The easiest way to reach Bhutan is by flight, they have an airport at Paro. Druk Air is the only
carrier.
What we did was to reach Hashimara from Howrah by Kanchankanya Express that departs from
Howrah daily at 8.30PM. Going this way is rather very easy because Phuntsholing is only 30min
by road from Hashimara station.
From Hashimara, if you already have the permit can straight go to Phuntsholing terminus from
where you can catch a bus/cab to Thimphu.
Getting the Permit : People leaving in and around Kolkata can go to Bhutan house at 6 mal Road,
Dum Dum. The place is near to Nagerbazar. The process is simple, go there fill up the form and
submit it along with your voterid card, one photo. The permit will be given to you in 2 days time.
Remember one thing, here you will get permit for only Thimphu and Paro. The office is closed on
Saturday and Sunday. If you can get the permit from Kolkata then no need of giving one extra day
in Hashimara.
Currency : You have to carry Rs.100 currency notes. Rs.500 may not be acceptable in Bhutan.
Indian cards are not acceptable in Bhutan.
Phone : You have to have international roaming in Bhutan and it is very costly for all
incoming/outgoing. I suggest you take a Bhutan sim card with you. What we did was to tell our
travel agent do it for us (Jaigaon Tour & Travels just beside the Bhutan gate). I gave one photo and
voteid zerox and the guy came up with a Tashi cell sim card. He took Rs.250 for it, and its amazing
cheap to make calls, From Bhutan I called up India and it is Rs. 5 /min and local calls within
Bhutan is probably Rs. 1 min. Local calls are very important because you have to call your cab
driver arrange the trip, and also you may call up your hotel for any emergency.
Train : The best train on this route is Kanchankanya express, rather this is the only express train
from Howrah (HWH) to reach to Hashimara (HSA). The normal timing of the train is from
Howrah it will start at 8.30 PM and will reach HSA next day at 10.33 AM. After crossing NJP, the
train will be late because there is no double line. Expect the train to be at least 30-45 min late, ours
were 30 min late, but the journey is beautiful with tree gardens and forest on both side. From HAS
station a shared cab will take Rs. 100-150 / head to Phuntsholing/Jaigaon. The journey is beautiful
with tea gardens on both side of the road.
Cab to Thimphu : A shared cab to Thimphu takes Rs. 350-450/head. You can avail bus but the
timings may not suit you, and it takes longer in bus though the price is much less. A cab (bigger
ones like bolero) takes 5-5.30 hours to reach Thimphu. The road condition is good but at least 3-4
places the road widening work is going on so there will be lot of rough and dusty road in those
areas. They give a break for 20min for snacks or lunch. But the best option is to have a lunch is
Phuntsholing/Jaigaon. We had our lunch at a restaurant in Phuntsholing. Though not the best of the